Need Advice: AIW 9700 too Hot

[BuddMan]

Ok, I've been having heat problems with my AIW 9700. I have a 92mm fan blowing right on the card. It seems that the only part of the card that gets hot is the VPU (the back of the card where the VPU is is too hot to touch after playing a game). I can play most games fine, but some games like Morrowind or Soldier of Fortune II will make the card too hot in a matter of a few minutes. I will get a system beep from the mobo speaker when it gets too hot and then shortly the whole system locks up unless I quit the game (if I quit the game, all is fine).

I watercool my entire system (except PCI/AGP devices), and I am sure the rest is cool. Even if I keep my case open, the card still gets too hot on that one point. When removing the heatsink to the AIW, it seems that the shim is not allowing the heatsink to make direct contact to the VPU. So it would seem I have two options: 1. Removing the shim. 2. Watercooling as the waterblock is small enough to fit right on the VPU.

There is a slight problem with watercooling though. The waterblock is so small that I'm afraid it will not provide enough cooling to the entire card, though it should for the VPU alone. My question is, do you guys think it will be enough if I watercool it and have the 92mm fan blowing right on it from the window? Do you think the problem is due to heat? Also note I have RMAed the card because I thought this was a problem specific to the card and not a heat issue. But I get the exact same thing with the replacement. Anyway, I'd appreciate any info if anyone else has experienced this or has any suggestions.

[BuddMan]

Ok, I've removed the shim from the card. But I still get the beep. However, I can play any other game just fine it seems. I just got done playing UT 2003 for 3 hours. The only other game I got the beep in was Soldier of Fortune II, and that was only once. I'm at a loss as to why I can't get Morrowind to run. I wouldn't be so concerned but for the system beep I get...that's the odd part.

[BuddMan]

Now this is really odd. I decided to give Morrowind a try again but play it in window mode. I did this, and of course it beeped. Well, I was like screw it, I'll just keep playing (usually I exit the game immediately as the whole system freezes soon after). So it just keeps on playing. Well, not too long after the first beep, I hear the same beep again. I decided to keep playing. Well, nothing happened. Everything went fine. Now going to test in full mode now that I got past the intro part of the game...then going to bed, it's 6am here, heh.

EDIT: Just played in full screen mode. It did the same thing, beeps every so often, but nothing locks up. Could the card be on the verge of overheating? I've also heard this game has a memory leak problem. Could that cause the problem? Does anyone have a clue as to why I keep getting these system beeps?

Case temp is around 22-26 degrees, CPU temp never goes above 37, chipset on the mobo isn't even hot to the touch. I've run something called GoldMemory (I think that's what it was called) in DOS mode and tested every single byte of memory I have, and it came out clean. I've also run the Prime95 torture test for 2 hours with no errors. I was overclocking, but I am at default right now because of this beeping stuff and only seems to happen in Morrowind now. I have tried AGP 4x and 8x, tried adjusting aperture settings, tried raising the priority of the Morrowind app via the task manager, tried many drivers (which I don't think this is a driver issue). I can run continuous loops of 3DMark2003 without getting the beep. I dunno? I'm at a loss...

[Technoid]

Weird

[Novdid]

Indeed!

[BuddMan]

Well, I'd appreciate it if anyone had info on why it does this or at least a theory. I still can't figure it out. I can play Morrowind now, but the beeps sure are annoying...

Let me add that when the shim was on, after the first beep the whole system would lock up after seconds. Now that the shim is off, it does not lock up. Could it still be that the card is on the verge of overheating??

[Admiral]

Have a look in PIT's thread and theorize on voltage fluctuations.

[Jon P. Inghram]

If your waterblock makes contact the entire core of the VPU, it should be just fine. Turn Fast Writes off if you havn't, that can cause wierd problems too. Get Motherboard Monitor or some other monitoring utility and see what all the voltages do when you fire up Morrowind. If you've got a multimeter and know how to use it, measure the +12 and +5 voltages off a spare power connector, and the 3.3 voltage on the motherboard which is not hard to find on a PCI slot, pin A53 which is second from the left on the little 10 pin tab (assuming a "normal" PCI slot) on the top (side without components,) you should be able to make contact with with the pin where it springs back up to the top of the socket, NOT inside the actual slot.

[BuddMan]

Ok, I'll try out Motherboard Monitor when I get off work (which isn't until midnight ). But why would it not lock up now? I played Morrowind for 30 minutes and not one lockup...before it would lockup in 3 min or less.

EDIT: If indeed one of my lines are getting drained too much, what should I do to remedy the problem? I have a 480W PSU, I would think that would be more than enough?

[Jon P. Inghram]

Maybe your computer just doesn't like you. Did you take the card out and reseat it a couple of times to make sure it's getting good contact? I'm not up to speed on the power requirements of all these new fangled systems... but assuming it's a decent PS and can handle the current on each of the voltage rails that should be enough wattage. My system seems 100% stable with a Fortron/Source 300W PS:

Celeron Tualatin 1.2 o/c'ed to 1.44 GHz, 120 MHz FSB
512 MB PC133 SDRAM @ 120 MHz, CAS2
Asus TUSL2-C motherboard
40 gig WD WD400BB 7200 RPM UDMA/100 HD
10 gig Maxtor 91024U4 7200 RPM UDMA/66 HD
16x Pioneer 105S slot load DVD drive
Radeon 8500 64 MB @ stock 275/272
SBLive! (original X-Gamer! version)
MS SW FF2 joystick
MS Optical Wheel Mouse
Floppy drive
Alpha PAL6035 CPU cooler with a 23.5 CFM fan
2 80mm 4W case fans

[BuddMan]

Well, I'm gonna try a GF2 in my system tonight, do the monitor thing as well, and try my AIW in someone else's system. Maybe this will help answer some questions...

[SuRGV]

Quick question.
How to tell MBM to read temperature of Radeon 8500LE ?
Thanks

[Jon P. Inghram]

It can't. Well, at least not without adding a extra thermal sensor to your motherboard if it's got a plug for one and taping it to the back of the GPU on the 8500 or something.

[BuddMan]

Another question before I get off work and try some more things: If I can play UT 2003 for hours on hours (also did those benchmarks), why don't I get the beep then? I would think UT 2003 would tax the system more heavily than Morrowind would....?

[Jon P. Inghram]

Post your IRQ's. I'm betting it's a voltage issue though. How'd you measure your CPU temps BTW?